Prof. Susan N. Herman


speaker Prof. Susan N. Herman

We can't give up on privacy, because if we do, then we are giving up on democracy.

Susan Herman was elected President of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 2008 after having served on the ACLU National Board of Directors for 20 years. She also holds a chair as a Centennial Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School where she teaches courses in constitutional law, criminal procedures, and terrorism and civil liberties. She is affiliated with the Center for Law, Language & Cognition and is an Edward V. Sparer Public Interest Law Fellowship Committee Member. At the ACLU, she served as a member of the Executive Committee for 16 years and as General Counsel for 10 years. Before entering teaching, she was Pro Se Law Clerk for the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and Staff Attorney and then Associate Director of Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York. She is a prolific author in constitutional and criminal procedure topics. Her extensive writings have been published in scholarly and other publications, from law reviews and books to periodicals and on-line publications. Her most recent book, Taking Liberties: The War on Terror and the Erosion of American Democracy (Oxford 2011 & 2014), was awarded the 2012 Roy C. Palmer Civil Liberties Prize from the Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago-Kent College of Law.